Tales from Centuries Ago: Kenshin of Soul Society
by MrWezlum18
Summary: Kenshin's life of turmoil has ended, but his story is not over. Kenshin's spirit encounters one of the enigmatic "Death Gods," starting his next adventure in the afterlife. Now freshly edited to my liking. The next chapter will be up by April.
1. Death

Himura Shinta had made the journey, enduring great pain as his body was slowly consumed by the new disease. He slowly staggered down the winding road to the home of his life. His duty was done, and his mind at peace with all but one thing; he had to see her again, his wife, his love, his salvation.

"Kaoru. . . Kaoru. . ." Shinta mumbled out loud, reminding himself why he was determined to persevere.

_J_ust_ keep moving! Just keep moving! _He shouted this in his mind repeatedly, his will to live unwavering, forcing his numb limbs on. He no longer felt pain. It was dulled to the point where it no longer bothered him, but the sense of overwhelming lethargy had taken his place. His senses were giving way to a dark fog, his thoughts getting harder and harder to string together.

_Just. . . keep moving. . . Just a few more. . . few more steps. . . please. . . just give me a few more steps. . . _

The walls of the dojo came into view between the cherry trees, finally. No other thought existed in his mind, no memories or feelings but the desire to see her. One last time. He owed her that.

He made his way along the wall, but then, whether she had sensed his approach or had been waiting there for all this time, all that mattered to him was on the path ahead. She was pale with her hair was down, and parts of her body were wrapped in bandages like his, but her beauty was undiminished in Shinta's eyes. With his blurry vision, he could only see her as he had when they first met. Young, full of life and vigor, a ribbon always in her hair.

She saw him, a hand raised to her mouth as she caught her breath. She stumbled towards him, and he barely managed to quicken his pace. Her arms reached out to embrace him, Shinta happily collapsed into them.

"I came for you." He whispered, "I came back for you. . . Kaoru." his voice trailed off.

"I welcome you, Shinta." she sighed back. She led him to the side of the path, half dragging him, to the shade of the trees and set him down with his head in her lap.

Kaoru stroked his hair and looked at the boughs above them, petals drifting down on the wind all around, "I wonder how long the cherry blossoms will last," she said, "Kenji, Yahiko, Tsubame, Megumi-san; I want to have a cherry blossom party and invite everyone!"

Shinta did not reply.

"We'll have one next year too," She went on, trying to stave off the moment for as long as she could, "And the year after. Who knows? By then Yahiko may be a father." She giggled at the thought.

When he still didn't respond she looked down at him, "Shinta?"

He lay there, unresponsive and unmoving, the truth clear for any to see.

"You're so tired, aren't you?" said Karou, her voice trembling. She brushed the hair off of his face, and gasped, the cross scar, the symbol of all that had tormented him for as long as she'd known him, was completely gone! Tears began to flow, and dripped on to his face, in which a strange beauty had been revealed. All the pain and worry previously etched into his face was now gone, all that remained was serenity.

* * *

Shinta opened his eyes, the weariness having lifted, the haze in his mind gone. He sat up. Shinta felt better than he had in years, no bodily pain weighed him down anymore. He undid the bandages completely covering his chest. Where before had been a mass of bloody rotten flesh, the result of the disease he had contracted so long ago, there was now naught but smooth, albeit pale, skin. Was this some kind of miracle?

He was in the middle of the path leading around the dojo, distantly he heard the sound of someone sobbing. It was Kaoru! He flew to his feet in an instant, faster than he had been capable off since his prime years, looking for her.

Under the shade of the trees she sat, holding something in her arms. Shinta started to run to her, but then the ground seemed to give away suddenly. The air was seemed so thin now, making him extremely dizzy. He could barely breath. He stumbled forward a few more paces, then collapsed. He caught his breath as best he could and raised himself up on his hands and knees, and found himself inches from his own face! His own pale, lifeless face. Startled, Shinta jerked away from it. What the hell was this!?

He looked from his own face to Kaoru's, but she had eyes only for the other Shinta it seemed.

"Kaoru?" She didn't look at him.

"Kaoru!" Shinta called to her louder, but she still didn't acknowledge him. For the first time Shinta noticed a long chain attached to his chest, the broken end of which lay near the other Shinta. Realization began to set in. His missing wounds were no miracle.

"So this is how it ends." he said, with no one to hear him but the ether.

"**This is not the end."** the ether replied.

The voice shook Shinta to his core. The weight, the power, the voice commanded made him tremble in his sandals.

A figure cloaked in black and white descended from the sky. Shinta gaped at the apparition that had appeared. It looked like an old man, an old war veteran more like, his face and arms were laced with scars. He held a large knobbly staff.

"Who. . .? What are you?" he stuttered.

**"Do you really want to know? Isn't it obvious what I'm here for?" **The man's eyes where closed, as if Shinta wasn't even worth looking at.

The pressure given off by it's aura was beating down upon Shinta, making him fall back to his knees. "Wh-what is this force!?" Shinta gasped.

"**You are still conscious? Impressive."  
**

Never before had Shinta felt so vulnerable as he did here, as if his very soul could just cease to exist if the man in black and white wished it.

"Who are you?" Shinta asked again.

**"I am a Shinigami."**

"A death god!?" Shinta exclaimed in wonderment. He finally managed to get back to his feet as he said this.

**"Yes. Now stay where you are so we can get this over with quickly."**

Shinta's eyes narrowed, and he crouched into a fighting stance.

The "Shinigami" opened one eye, sizing him up, **"Please." **he scoffed. The Shinigami vanished. There one second, then gone.

Suddenly Shinta had his face in the dirt. Angry and humiliated, he got up and turned to face the Shinigami again.

But the death god raised a hand to stop him.

"**You need not fear me. ****What you must fear are the hollows that will seek you out to consume your soul."**

Another new word. "What do you mean?"

**"Either by this, or simply through time, you will fall into the darkness and return as a Hollow yourself. A hollow that will undoubtedly consume the souls of those who were closest to you in life, such is a hollow's nature."**

"You mean, staying her would put my family at risk?!" Shinta demanded.

"**No. More than a risk. You will be their certain demise."**

"No, I would never do such a thing. I will NOT become this 'hollow,' or whatever else."

"**You cannot stop it as long as you stay in the world of the living, why look at you self, the encroachment has all ready begun."  
**

The Shinigami pointed at the end of the chain connected to Shinta's chest. Tiny mouths along the first chain link opened wide and began devouring itself as they watched. Shinta doubled up and screamed in agony, he fell back to the ground. He felt like his entire body was on fire! Three links broke off from the chain and disintegrated, and the pain stopped. Shinta sat up to look at the Shinigami again, only for the end of that staff to force him back down and hold him in place by his forehead.

"**When that ****chain disappears, you will become a hollow. Then you will destroy all that you hold dear, seeking to fill the void where you once had a soul. I have now prevented that."  
**

With that the Shinigami lifted his staff from Shinta's forehead, leaving behind a glowing white symbol. Shinta was then engulfed in a white light.

Before he knew it, he was flying above the ground. He looked down, but the strange man in the black robes was nowhere to be seen. Shinta's last glimpse of the material world was of his now widowed wife still kneeling under the cherry trees, embracing Shinta's body as she wept.

He knew she could not hear him, but it had to be said. "I love you Kaoru, good-bye."


	2. Judgement

Tales from Centuries Ago: Kenshin of Soul Society

chapter 2

* * *

Shinta felt like he was floating. He gradually became aware of the feeling in his limbs and stretched out. He opened his eyes and found that he was naked. But, beyond that, there was nothing else to see. There was nothing but a vast emptiness of white for as far as he could see.

He tried to get himself upright and, as if responding to this desire, he suddenly had floor to stand on. Only there wasn't one. He was standing, and yet he could feel no surface beneath his feet, as if he was standing on air. With nothing near at hand, or on the horizon, he couldn't even guess how big this place was. For all he knew, it stretched on for eternity.

It was unbearably quiet. Where ever he was, it was him and him alone in this unearthly place.

**What is your name?** Another voice from nowhere sounded. Shinta looked around wildly, expecting to see the Shinigami again. But there was no one there.

**State**** your name. **It was an order this time. The voice was firm, but not forceful. It wasn't the Shinigami, whatever it was.

**Your name!**

"H-Himura Shinta." he uttered hesitantly.

**Are you sure about that?**

Shinta felt a little indignant, "It's the name I was born with."

**"But not the only one you have used."**

"What does it matter what I was once called?" Shinta demanded.

**It matters.**

"Then I am also Kenshin. Himura Kenshin."

**And?**

Shinta remained silent.

**Very well. We're doing this the hard way.  
**

"...oro?"

**Your file says 'Himura Shinta', your birth name, but it also says Himura Kenshin because you used that name for a significant portion of your life.  
**

"My... file?"

"**The file of your life. It shows me everything that you have done from the time you first opened your eyes, to the last time you closed them. "**

Shinta's heart sank, This didn't sound promising. "Everything?"

**Everything. **

The memories, unbidden, flashed before Shinta's eyes as they had many times before.

**I can see all the times you helped somebody, and all the times you made somebody cry. I see every woman you've wanted, every man you've hated, every friend, and every moment of happiness or pain you shared with them. I know your every regret, why you feel it, and what led you to that course. All of your fortune or misfortune, and every deed, good. . . and bad.  
**

Shinta bowed his head.

**I know you, Hitokiri Battousai!  
**

Shinta flinched, "I abandoned that name!" he shouted.

**Every man that you killed has sat before me, with that name on their lips!  
**

Shinta grimaced. Here they had all stood, every man that he had killed. All of them had passed through this purgatory and been judged by this voice. . .

**Are you not the same man who fought in the Meiji Revolution? Are those not the same hands which killed so many men. Hitokiri Battousai is not a mere shell you can dispose of whenever you wish. Know this child, there is power in names. You are just as much the Battousai as you are Kenshin the wandering Rurouni, or Himura Shinta of the Kamiya-Kasshin dojo. ****You own the name Hitokiri Battousai and all the sins that go with it. Would you care to hear them?  
**

"No, I really would not."

**Eight hundred and thirty-four. That is how many people you killed. Eight-thirty-five if you include the one known as Shishio Makoto.**

"But-!"

**I know what happened! He continued to duel you until his body couldn't take it anymore. More of an indirect kill, but all the same-**

"I didn't kill Shishio!"

**Did he not die from battling you?**

Shinta remained defiant, "My only goal was to stop him from throwing the country back into war. Shishio knew his limits, he could have laid down his arms, but he didn't. His end was by his own hand."

For a long time, the voice was silent. Then Shinta heard a faint noise, almost like a chuckle.

**Well said. Few are the number who are able to argue with me. But what of the others? The eight hundred thirty- four? Can you account for those** **people?**

Shinta hung his head.

**Number seven sixty-nine was your own wife! Do you remember?**

Shinta fell to his knees. The pain of it was still there, like a raw angry nerve, his greatest sorrow. Just another link in the chain dragging him to hell.

"Tomoe." he whispered. It was all he could say. Unconsciously, he raised a hand to his left cheek. The scar was gone, but many scars cut deeper than flesh. He could come to peace what happened, but he could never forget. . .

**I am surprised. Most would be quick to say that it was an accident.  
**

"You know what happened."

**That I do. I know you didn't want to. I know you were trying to save her, despite what she had done. I know you were ready to die for her.**

"So... what is your verdict then."

_**Well**_**...You became a murderer to bring about the founding of a government that went on to disenfranchise many innocents. There were as many victims of the Meiji Era as there were of the revolution that brought it about. Not only did your actions affect those in front of you, but the long-term consequences are still being felt by many. **

**For your role in history, you could have had great power in that government, but you refused all offers and became the Rurouni. You wandered the country, using your sword to protect those the downtrodden and fighting against those who abused them. For the latter half of your life you did all that you could to atone for your sins, going on to only **_**technically **_**kill one more man so that the relative peace of the Meiji Era would be preserved. Few men do as much as feel remorse for their actions. You certainly did well in that regard. To a fault, one could say.  
**

**You spent much of the final years of your life raising a family, then left them to fulfill some perceived debt. Your final days redeem you for that decision, I think.  
**

Another long pause.

**Few who come to this realm take this long to place a verdict on, but you are so intriguing that I wanted to interview you for a bit. You ought to be grateful, I have a very busy schedule.**

"Er... Thank you...?"

"**Your welcome."**

". . ."

**". . ."**

". . . oro?"

** Himura Shinta, Rurouni no Kenshin, Hitokiri Battousai; you will go to Soul Society.  
**

A weight seemed to life off Shinta's shoulders, and relief flooded his being. He smiled. The whiteness around him seemed to intensify.

**Farewell my child. We may well meet again one day, but you will not remember this encounter. **

The light was too bright, Shinta had to close his eyes as he was engulfed once again.


End file.
